WARFRAME: Grineerstein
by Scribbling-Weasel
Summary: A Tenno warrior loses her beloved Warframe to a new, horrific threat. With help of her faithful friends, she is going to retrieve what's hers. WARNING: contains mild spoilers to the quest "The Second Dream"


"Tenno," spoke the Lotus, her voice soft and patient as always, "I've detected an anomaly in this region. You're to investigate and neutralize the potential threat. Be careful, though – I've also detected a Corpus platoon nearby, apparently for the same reason. Don't get caught off-guard."

Ember nodded as she jumped off her landing craft. She landed on a frigid plateau, once serving as a landing pad of an old outpost nearby. She drew her longsword as she snuck closer, looking for potential enemies. Soon, she reached a round shaft carved in the ice and rock, leading deep into the plateau. There, she heard already familiar chatter of the Corpus Crewmen. Focused on their tasks, they had yet to notice the presence of the Tenno.

Ember slided down the shaft and landed on a metal platform. Sneaking past the Crewmen and a cohort of their robotics, she hid in the plain sight, searching the large chamber she was in for potential paths to reach her objective. Meanwhile, she listened to the Corpus chatter:

"(I hate this place so much... My bottom is completely frozen!)"

"(I didn't need to know that. Quit bellyaching, we've got relics to dig out!)"

So they were here for relics, thought Ember. Perhaps I'd find a better use for them.

Next thing one would hear in the chamber were sounds of stabbing, slashing, and shooting in every direction. The Crewmen weren't much of a problem – unlike their Ospreys and MOAs; the drones kept the walkers functional by continously charging their personal shields, and the walkers themselves had enough firepower to keep Ember away from close combat, hidden behind a column of ice as they slowly approached her from the front and the sides. The Tenno waited for her own shield to recharge at least a little bit, and when it did, she jumped at the largest group of the robotics. They already focused their sensors on her. Then, her Warframe glowed as if on fire. She raised her hand and slammed the ground, and a massive shockwave of flames engulfed and devoured the automatic Corpus soldiers. Screeches of the MOAs echoed through the tunnels, and fell silent shortly after.

Ember moved on, her hands clenching to her bow. Dashing from cover to cover, shooting down the Crewmen before they even knew she was there, and disabling the robotics, she was closer and closer to the objective the Lotus had told her about. The quicker she got there, the better.

Finally, she stumbled upon a smaller chamber, heavily guarded by Crewmen and MOAs, and even by a small number of stationary turrets. Coropus wanted these artifacts really badly, judging by the huge amount of credits they must have paid to get so many elite troops.

It took her way too long to dispatch all the crewmen and their robotics, and at least twice was she close to get her Warframe shut down by the shooting so dense, she had hard time regenerating. Eventually, though, it was her who was victorious. Ember, her guard down, finally walked towards what they had found.

The strange artifact appeared to be an ancient cryopod of Orokin origin – what indicated this were its ornate, gilded decorations, not unlike the fallen empire, and its white hull decorated with the Orokin inscriptions. Was this a Warframe of some sort? The glass was completely dark and opaque, one wouldn't be able to look through. There was only one way to find out.

"Strange," the Lotus suddenly spoke to Ember as the Tenno slowly lay her hand on the cryopod to break it open. "I sense no Warfame inside. What is it, then?"

As the pod opened, Ember froze in shock, seeing what was hidden inside: an amalgam of various Warframes. It had an Excalibur's head, left arm of a Mag, right of a Frost, a torso of a Rhino mixed with Vauban, and legs of a Volt – all stitched together in a crude, horrific fashion, like a monster made of corpses.

Suddenly, the makeshift Warframe woke up, and before Ember could back off, it grabbed her by the neck. The Tenno struggled, scratched the crude monster with her fingers, and finally, she broke free by scorching its arm and head. The creature stepped back, shaking its head and staring at its opponent. Although it had no eyes, Ember could feel its glare deep within her soul. She readied her sword and stepped back. What was this abomination? She had already encountered a number of similar 'creations' built by the unhinged Alad V of Corpus, but this... thing... it wasn't his creation.

"Ho ho ho!" a voice of an unknown Grineer echoed through Ember's communications. "I see you have already met with my pet, Tenno! Get her!"

The monster, evading Ember's fire attacks, went into her close range. The Tenno swung her sword at it, and it kept either dodging or actually blocking the blade with Mag's forked gauntlet. With a quick twist of its arm, Ember's sword slipped out of her hands and flew across the chamber, embedding itself inside one of the icy walls. Then, a huge dose of electrostatic energy struck the Tenno, and her weakened Warframe dropped on the ground.

"Tenno!" shouted the Lotus as the frightening amalgam caught her by the neck again, and started smashing her head on the wall. "I cannot let you die like this. I must break the Transference!"

Before Ember could protest, the world in front of her fell dark.

"Operator? Operator!" Cephalon Dearus screamed in fear as the humanoid figure in a bodysuit fell down from the Somatic Link. "Operator, are you alright?! Speak to me!"

The figure, a young human girl, her eyes violet and her hair short and jet black, raised from the cold floor and gasped. Kneeling, she struggled for air, straight from being strangled in the other body. Teardrops of pain flowed down her cheeks. She wiped her face and looked around. She was back on the orbiter, away from that... thing... and without Ember!

"Operator," Dearus called her once more, "speak to me, please! Are you alright?"

"Far... far from it, Dearus..." the Operator replied as she slowly stood up, leaning against the room's wall. "What was that? Lotus, what was this thing? Who was that?"

As the girl sat back down on the Somatic Link, resting from the severe shock from forced break of the Transference, the Lotus, the guardian of Tenno, spoke to her via the ship's communications:

"I'm currently trying to decode his identity. You, in the meantime, try to rest. This... creature... was nothing we've encountered before, not from the Grineer."

"Ember... I must get her back!"

"I can't risk sending you back there," apologized the woman. "We must first find out who had set that trap, and where to find him."

"Um, Operator, dare I ask," the Cephalon spoke rather anxiously, "why won't you simply use other Warframes, or build another Ember? This might sound a bit harsh, but there's a plenty of Embers in the system."

"Yes, and this one Ember is mine," she replied angrily. "I can't just built another one!"

"My apologies..." Dearus then fell silent, unwilling to frustrate his mistress with his suggestions. Suddenly, however, he raised his voice again: "Oh, there's a message for you in the mailbox."

The moment when only the ship's systems hummed softly around her, the Operator closed her eyes. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest, sweat dripped from her temples, and her head still aching after the brawl. Slowly coming back to her senses, she turned on a small projector in front of the Link. She moved her slender fingers across the holographic screen, navigating through the systems of the ship.

She noticed a blinking message in her mailbox, titled as _"TO MAKO"_. Rarely would she be referred to by her actual name. She opened a message, and a short text appeared before her eyes. It read:

" _LET'S MEET UP IN CETUS, THERE IS SOMETHING I'D LIKE TO SHOW YOU. PERSONALLY._

 _ALSO, I NEED A LITTLE HELP  
AKIHITO"_

Mako sighed as she read the message over and over again, soon turning off the screen. The pain slowly faded away, and she could finally walk around without feeling dizzy – or at least not that much. As she slowly approached the center of her orbiter, she thought about the invitation. What could be the reason of him asking others to come over to him? As far as she remembered, Akihito was a loner – even bigger than her – and he preferred to stay on his own, away from other Tenno. What could have changed his mind?

The settlement of Cetus, spanning in the shadow of the ancient Orokin tower of the Unum, was silent and peaceful, unlike the majority of the Origin System. Locals were used to the sight of dozens of Tenno, coming and going as they saw fit, and often meeting with Cetus' spokesman, the elder Konzu. One would also notice other settlers, stranger than the indigenous Ostrons, and focusing on the very outskirts of the town, sometimes even on the other side of the tower, isolating themselves from the affairs of Cetus.

Such isolation was what Mako needed at the moment. Stripped down of her Warframe, the one she had gotten attached to so much, she felt incredibly vulnerable, like a fragile ceramic figurine among titans. Away from other Tenno, she sat down on the edge of the lake that surrounded the tower, she stared apathetically at her own reflection in the water. What she could offer for not being so helpless...

"Here you are!"

She suddenly raised her head and looked back. Right behind her stood Akihito, her friend to whom she felt like a sister. The fellow Operator, a boy of cyan eyes and dark hair, say down next to her, and both exchanged a handshake.

Soon joined another Tenno: Hikari, to whom Mako felt more... intimate emotions. She hadn't yet expressed her feelings towards her, and she doubted whether to ever do it. Akihito must have taken here with him, having met her on the way here.

"We've been looking for you for a while," said the girl, setting her brown eyes on her friend as she sat down by her other side. "Lotus told us what happened."

"Who else knows that?"

"Let me see..." Akihito turned on his communicator. "Every single Tenno in the system."

Mako hid her face in her hands and groaned in frustration. Hikari gave her a pat on her back, trying to calm her.

"And I can't do anything to get my Ember back from this thing's hands. I've been staring at the communications for an hour or so, waiting for the Lotus to explain the situation, and I'm still waiting."

"You need some more faith, Mako, and patience," the boy said to her. "And besides, you've still got us! We can find a solution."

"Thanks." The girl smiled faintly and let out a frustrated sigh. "I need to find a way to get that Grineer who stole my Warframe."

"And I think I already know how to do it!" Hikari suddenly spoke up. Both Mako and Akihito looked at the jolly-sounding Operator, her face decorated with a sweet smile. "Meet me back on my orbiter. I'll show you something!"

They stared at her in confusion, but they nodded the moment she asked them. Curious what she had come up with, the Tenno soon departed on their respective ships, and then, boarded Hikari's orbiter.

To be frank, Mako had never been on someone else's ship – except for the Grineer and the Corpus, but they didn't count at this point – and she had no idea what to expect. Neither did she let anyone in hers; her only company on board was Dearus and her Ember. Many would often point out her inflexibility and dependance on this one particular Warframe, but she had gotten so attached to her over her time as a Tenno, she couldn't imagine herself controlling any other Frame.

She boarded Hikari's ship, cautiously leaving the landing craft. She felt naseous; landing with and without a Warframe were two distinct feelings. Coming back to her senses, she looked around the orbiter. It didn't seem any different to hers – all modules were in their respective places, and the only thing that seemed to differ was a small number of Ayatan sculptures standing about, some even fully powered. Apparently, Hikari was into treasure hunting.

Soon, a deep, distant humming indicated Akihito's arrival. He walked inside, just as naseous as she had felt just a while ago. Apparently, he, too, wasn't used to travelling without utilizing his Warframes. The two friends exchanged a handshake, and slowly approached Hikari's personal chamber. Mako was just about to open the round door when it was suddenly opened from the other side, and the third Tenno greeted her surprised friends with a smile:

"Hi! Great to see you." She set her eyes on Mako. She caught her, suddenly flushing on her face, and pulled her into the chamber. "Mako, come here!"

"Whoa!" yelped the Operator, dragged inside as Akihito just stood there in silent confusion. Just when Hikari let her go, she looked at her, still flushed from her surprisingly strong yet gentle grip. "You could have just let us in, you know...?"

The girl's guests looked into her personal room. Quickly did they stumble upon a tall feminine figure in the darker corner. The jolly Operator beckoned in this direction, and from the shadow slowly walked out a Warframe. A rare one, for it was a Valkyr in her own, scarred person. Both Mako and Akihito stood there in awe, just a stretch of an arm away from the violent and aggressive construct, now just standing there, on Hikari's command. Neither of the two had encountered a Valkyr from this close, usually afraid of the immense power of the Warframe's infamous claws.

"Is this Valkyr... yours?" Akihito asked anxiously as he slowly and carefully approached her, willing to touch her chassis. Just the moment he was about to lay his hand on her chest, she suddenly woke up, grabbed him by the wrist, and lifted him in the air, squirming in pain. "Ow, ow, ow, ow! Let me go! I'm sorry I tried to touch your chest, now let me go!"

As Hikari made a short, barely noticeable move, Valkyr slowly put the boy down. Holding his hurting wrist, Akihito, embarrassed in front of the girls, stepped back, behind Mako, who was now directly in front of the Warframe. The girl anxiously raised her hand, but remembering what Valkyr had done to Akihito, she lowered it. She didn't want to risk it.

"Well? How do you think, Mako?" Hikari asked her friend. "Do you like this gift?"

"Gift?!" Mako yelped in disbelief. She stared at both Hikari and her Valkyr, and immediately shook her head. "I can't- I can't accept her! I wish I could, but I can't."

"Oh, come on, why? It's not like I didn't think it out." The girl shrugged her arms. "You need a Warframe, right? Therefore, I'm giving you away my Valkyr so she could help you get your Ember back. Besides, building a new Warframe would take you so long, she would end up in pieces." She crossed her arms on her chest. "Twice."

"Yeah," agreed Akihito, still suspiciously eyeballing the Valkyr, "Hikari is right. Whether you want it or not, you need quick help to get back your Warframe."

"Ugh..." Mako growled silently as deep inside, she gave them their due. They were right, and she was stubborn enough to neglect it. She needed help, badly, and even if this help was something so intimate as being given a Warframe from a fellow Tenno instead of building one by herself, she had to do it – if it was only to get her own back... "Fine..." She set her eyes on the girl, a thin smile forming on her lips, and embraced her in a gentle hug. "Thank you, Hikari. I promise I'll take good care for her."

Akihito, although envious of the girls' intimate moment, didn't want to swoop in and break it. It was Hikari who caught him off-guard and pulled him closer for a group hug. After a while or two, the three calmed down, and Mako looked at Valkyr, still uncertain of the decision she had just made. She had never been given a Warframe before; therefore, she didn't know how it was supposed to work as the constructs seemed to be somewhat bound to the Tenno who had built them. Could this be that Hikari had somehow managed to find a solution for it?

Suddenly, the boy raised his voice, having heard the sound of the communicator:

"It's the Lotus!"

Soon, the familiar, calming voice of their guardian angel reached their ears:

"Tenno, I've located where to find more data about the creator of that monstrum. It's one of the Grineer archives located on Mercury. Get there and find them."

Three landers pierced the sky of the scorched planet of Mercury. No alarms had been raised, the machines' cloaking technology being way ahead of that of the Grineer. The landers hovered a few meters above the ground, and when their respective users jumped off, they disappeared into thin air.

First to land was Akihito, controlling his trusted Loki, and right next to him stood up Mako's Valkyr and Hikari's Nova. The three Tenno looked at each other and nodded synchronically as they entered their field of operations – a huge underground Grineer complex.

On the very beginning of their sweep, they encountered a small squad of Lancers, accompanied by a Napalm; therefore, they needed to dispatch them carefully – Loki and Nova were particularly frail, and should they fail to avoid detection, they would need to either get away from the danger, therefore risking raising an alarm, or to neutralize it as soon as possible.

Valkyr nodded at Nova, and the fragile Warframe launched a blast of antimater, easily dispatching the entire squad. Those who somehow managed to survive were quickly finished off by Loki and Valkyr. Now what they had to do was to split up and find the data vaults hidden in the complex. All three combined, they were to indicate who their next target was and where to find him. Should they fail, and should the data be purged, the hunt would prove much more difficult. They were therefore determined enough not to mess this up.

Nova was first to appraoch the data bank. Having broken through the sealed door, she snuck along the corridor. There, she encountered a Grineer Sensor Regulator – a drone responsible for surveying areas of a high strategic importance. Often heavily armored, this mobile camera, once disturbed by anyone and anything other than its Grineer masters, would sound an alarm, and therefore trigger the file deletion.

The Tenno immediately leapt behind the corner, seeing the drone closing in. Its small engines hummed silently as it hovered around, scanning the environment. Then, using its obliviousness of her presence to her advantage, she pulled out a pair of Kunai. In an instant, a whole rain of blades fell at the Regulator, and the crude machine exploded Into tiny pieces. Nova was free to go.

Inside, she saw a massive terminal with numerous screens, walls of text in the Grineer language flowing from one to another. This was what she got here for. Looking behind from time to time, cautious to not get caught red-handed by the Grineer, the Tenno cautiously hacked into the system, aware of the risk of having the data purged. Just a moment later, she and the Lotus through her gained access to all the contents of the terminal.

On the other edge of the complex, Valkyr hacked and slashed through squads of Grineer marines. She was so quick, the cloned soldiers didn't manage to even touch the security terminal in the middle of the corridor she was in. Her claws drenched in Grineer blood, she entered the data vault. She didn't play stealthy, not this time; she wanted to get the data and follow their trail to get back what was rightfully hers before it was too late.

Inside of the vault, she stood in front of the terminal. Staring at the screens, she tapped her fingers at the keyboard until she finally hacked through the crude security code. Soon, the data flew right into the hands of their guardian. Two out of three, another step closer to their goal.

Meanwhile, Loki was sneaking through the chambers, slowly approaching his data vault. Then, all of a sudden, he noticed a large squad of Grineer, accompanied by a Nox trooper – their chemical warfare specialist – walking straight at them. They didn't seem to have noticed them yet, therefore he decided to play a little dirty. He focused his energy and suddenly teleported on the place of the Nox, and vice versa, landing right behind the Grineer Lancers, and leaving the specialist far ahead.

"(What the...?)" the Nox asked himself as he noticed the unexpected change in his position.

Loki drew his twin Bolto pistols, and having used his Radial Disarm, he started dispatching the defenceless Lancers as easily as one would be shooting ducks. Then came time for the Nox, unaffected by the Tenno's power. The Grineer, thinking he would be victorious without any support, fired a ball of toxic goo from his distinct launcher, which almost hit Loki directly on the chest. The Tenno, however, managed to dodge the shot, and charged at the Nox with a Galatine.

The greatsword swung left and right as the two engaged in close combat. Soon, Loki smashed the Nox's glass dome, and his foul essence flew into the air. The smell of rotting flesh was almost unbearable. Wishing to finish this as quickly as possible, the Tenno performed a precise swing, and as soon as the blade slashed through the body, the Grineer dropped dead, his head rolling slowly on the floor. Loki shook his head in disgust as he sprinted into the data bank. He hacked into the terminal and sent the Lotus all data that was there.

"Excellent work, Tenno," she commended the three warriors, "we can now pinpoint where our target is. Get to extraction and wait for your next mission."

"Your target is Tharsus Bek," spoke the Lotus. "He's a high-ranked scientist of the Grineer, somewhat related to Tyl Regor. Fascinated with Corpus' experiments on Warframes, he had established a personal laboratory in the rings of Saturn. We've all seen what he's done to the Tenno. You must put an end to his atrocities."

Mako still remembered the first impression Bek's creation had made on her. Even now, it would give her creeps. The thought that her Ember would meet such an end was fueling her to fulfil this task. She promised herself: she will destroy Bek, his 'pet', and everything he had done so far as well. No one, and nothing will stop her.

"You are nearing Bek's laboratory now," the Lotus suddenly woke her up. "Lock and load."

Valkyr, Nova, and Loki entered the rings of the gas giant. Their landing craft flew along the space dust and rocks, and as soon as their sensors located a large, hollowed asteroid filled with Grineer technology, they slowed down and embedded themselves on the outpost. Then, the Tenno snuck into the laboratory.

Nova and Loki looked at each other, and suddenly noticed that Valkyr had already departed, desperate to get the Grineer scientist as soon as possible. They sprinted towards her to get her end up. Soon, the illusionist Tenno barred her way through the corridor, and the antimatter one caught her in a tight embrace.

"Slow down, Mako!" she shouted at her through the communicator.

"Cut it out, you two! It's between me and him!" growled Valkyr, struggling to break free, but Nova was surprisingly strong. "Ugh... Let me go!"

"Not if you don't calm down," spoke Loki and joined Nova in holding their hot-headed friend. "Look, I get it, you want revenge, but how about we go there together, with more finese, and THEN you'll vent?"

It took Valkyr some time to calm down. Still struggling in the friends' embrace, her emotions amplified by the Warframe's volatile nature, she soon managed to put herself together. Shivering between them, she panted heavily.

"Alright... I'm fine. I'm fine..." she muttered as Nova and Loki slowly let her go. "So, maybe you two go first, and I'll secure your six. You'll catch me again in case I snap."

"Don't worry, I've had the same," Nova calmed her friend and took her hand to lead her deeper into the lab, much to Valkyr's flush of pleasant uneasiness. "Valkyr is a bit... emotional. Give yourself and her some time, you'll be fine."

She hoped so; the vast range of negative emotions she felt simultaneously through the freshly bound Warframe seemed too much for her, a more to handle, and she would need to control herself until they settle down. She was almost sure nothing like that would have happened, had this be her own Valkyr, not a 'borrowed' one.

The three Tenno quickly dispatched the Grineer guarding the lab. They wanted to make it clear to Tharsus Bek that it was his end. Soon, they heard his omnious voice, gruff and hostile:

"Tenno in my household, what a pleasant surprise! Ha ha ha!" His voice didn't sound like belonging to someone fearing for his life; quite the contrary – he was mocking his executors. "Your Warframes will finally prove useful – as my guinea pigs, once I'm done with you! Get them!"

The door on the other edge of the lab opened, revealing not one, not two, but three stitched-up Warframes under Bek's command. What brought even bigger shock to the Tenno, and to Valkyr especially, was that one of their heads once belonged to an Ember. Her Ember! Everywhere could she recognize her Backdrift helmet! Petrified, she just stared as the three grotesque Warframe amalgams charged at them. She was quickly brought back to reality by a gunshot right next to her head. It was Loki, emptying his Boltos at the nearest opponent. Then, Nova launched a blast of antimatter, pushing the other one at the wall.

"Ember!" Valkyr screamed, setting her sight on the construct with the head of her former Warframe, now lying on the ground, its torso scorched by Nova's blast. Both grief and anger flooded her mind as she rushed towards it. She looked directly at its head. If she had eyes, she would be crying. "What's he done to you..." Soon, though, grief disappeared, and there was only anger.

Valkyr drew a Skana from her back. The simple Tenno blade glowed in fiery red. From her free hand sprung a string made of pure energy, ended with a hook, and it embedded itself in the body of the remaining monster. The Warframe amalgam was instantly pulled back to her, just before Loki managed to slash it with his Galatine, and the scarred Tenno impaled the abomination on her sword – all the way until the body touched the hilt. A foul fluid, a mixture of the Warframe 'blood' and Grineer 'grease', gushed from its chest, and just before it fell down on the ground, Valkyr decapitated it with a powerful slash, just to make sure it doesn't stand up again.

Nova stood upon the dead Ember-headed abomination. Though the Warframe possesed no facial expressions, let alone a face itself, it was obvious she was just as shocked as Ember's former owner, having encountered such a horrific enemy.

"How could anybody do such a thing?!" she asked herself and looked at Valkyr, cleaning the Skana with her hand. "Mako, are you alright?"

"I will when I get that scum who did this..." she growled aggressively.

Tharsus Bek spoke through the communications once again; once arrogant and confident in his constructs, now he sounded actually shocked and distressed:

"My creations, my- my children!" he shrieked. "You little worms! You're destroying the work of my life! I will NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT!"

"And you're going to be next," hissed Loki, and he gently patted Valkyr's shoulder, similarly to Akihito patting Mako. "Come on, we need to find him."

The three Tenno soon departed deeper into the lab. They were closer and closer to the anxious Grineer scientist. Soon, they reached him. He was tall and heavily augmented – so heavily, his head seemed to be the only organic part of his body – though his enhancements appeared to be primarly aimed to perfect hismental abilities. To the Tenno, he actually looked like someone associated with Tyl Regor, the genial researcher searching for a cure for the Grineer deterioration.

Tharsus Bek growled furiously as he picked up a modified machine gun from his table. He greeted the Tenno with a sudden burst of bullets flying across the room.

"Finally, I'll vent my fury upon your little bodies, worms!" he shrieked as he continued to fill the air with heavy ammunition. "Have at thee, Tenno!"

The three friends immediately dodged Bek's bullets as he, trigger-happy, covered himself with the fire of his gun. Laughing maniacally, he forced the Tenno behind covers in form of crates and pillars. They looked at each other, waiting for the right moment, and just when they heard the distinct clicking of an emptied magazine, they charged at the Grineer.

"Argh, cursed be those guns!" growled the scientist as he threw the weapon away and picked up a two-handed sword, its edge red-hot, and swung it at Loki. Then, all of a sudden, the Tenno dissipated like a hologram. "What the-"

"Surprise," the real Loki scoffed, appearing from behind, ready to strike him with his own Galatine. Both swung their blades and clashed in a duel.

"Foolish Tenno," said Bek. "I'll dissect you as well as I had those others...!"

The Grineer then kicked the Tenno in the stomach. Loki flew all the way back, straight at the wall. For a second, Valkyr and Nova thought he got hit so hard, his Transference broke down. Soon, however, he slowly stood up, stunned by the kick.

It was when Valkyr decided to attack. Her entire body glowed red as she jumped across the room, and from her fingers protruded long, razor-sharp claws. Unleashing her rage with a deafening shriek, she aimed for Bek's eyes. Like a rabid Kavat, she leapt at the Grineer and started hacking and slashing through his heavy armor, and thus reaching his squishy, rotting body, intertwined with crude cybernetics. Blood and machine fluids gushed out of Tharsus Bek's body as he let out a scream of pain and dropped dead on the floor. Valkyr calmed down a moment later, panting heavily her hands covered in the Grineer's fluids.

Suddenly, she shivered as she felt Nova's hand on her shoulder. She looked at her friend and stood up with her help. At this moment, she had vented more than enough of her anger. All she and her friends wanted now was to get out of here as soon as possible.

Meditating in the personal chambers of her own orbiter, in front of Valkyr in the same kneeling position, Mako was slowly getting over all of this, undisturbed by anyone and anything. She needed this, a moment for herself to recall everything in peace.

She lost Ember, the Warframe whose power would save her life countless times. When she had first felt controlling her, she already knew this was the Warframe for her. Now, she was gone, turned into a pitful abomination and put down like a rabid kubrow. She was so violently forced to move on, find a new path.

Now, she had Valkyr, given away by the one who made her heart race. The feeling when she first linked with her, it was... new, nothing she had ever felt before; she couldn't even describe it.

Mako let out a purifying sigh and slowly raised her eyes on the scarred Warframe in front of her. A thin, barely noticeable smile appeared on the Operator's face.

"Thank you, Valkyr," she whispered to her.

Suddenly, Cephalon Dearus spoke in the room:

"Operator, fellow Tenno ask for your help. Will you join them?"


End file.
